and many more benefits!

Find us on Facebook

GMAT Club Timer Informer

Hi GMATClubber!

Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:

Show Tags

This week, for the first time ever, the Financial Times has published rankings simultaneously for the Americas and Asia-Pacific alongside the European tables. In the FT’s 2017 ranking of European business schools, the top 10 schools have remained the same this year with just bit of shuffling of positions.

Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

CEIBS

National University of Singapore Business School

IIM Ahmedabad

HKUST Business School

IIM Bangalore

Nanyang Business School

Tongi University SEM

CUHK Business School

University of Hong Kong

This FT composite ranking measures the quality and range of postgraduate programs. The table of 95 schools is based on their performances in the 2017 rankings for MBAs, Executive MBAs, Masters in Management and the two tables for executive education. For more detailed information, please visit the Financial Times by following the links above.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering have announced a new full-time Master of Science in Business Analytics degree, with a three-semester curriculum designed for those who want to focus on learning the modeling techniques and data science tools that help businesses use data to make better decisions.

A key element of the new degree program is a capstone project that provides an intense consulting engagement with clients and their real-world business problems using relevant data sets over the entire course of the three-semester study.

“The role of analytics has grown increasingly critical for most sectors of the economy,” says Mary C. Boyce, Dean of Columbia Engineering. “Our partnership with Columbia Business School combines our strength in data science, optimization, stochastic modeling, and analytics with their strength in data-driven decision-making for business and marketing to create a rigorous new Master’s degree program.“

Jointly developed by faculty at both Columbia Engineering and Columbia Business School, the M.S. in Business Analytics equips graduates for careers as analysts and associates in consulting firms, and business analysts and data scientists in the fields of financial and professional services, technology, advertising and media, and other professions where a deep understanding and practical application of data analytics are required.

“By tapping into the vibrant and diverse business ecosystem that can only be found in New York, Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering are uniquely situated to offer this new Master’s degree,” says Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School. “We see this as a must-do program for any future business person who wants to have a leg up in using data to make informed business decisions.”

Another key element of the M.S. in Business Analytics is access to career placement services. As a first step, students complete a required Professional Development and Leadership course and have access to dedicated career services.

“The M.S. in Business Analytics combines classroom instruction by distinguished Columbia professors with the experience of working on real-world problems via the capstone project course,” says Garud Iyengar, Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research in Columbia Engineering.

“We expect this program to have 100 percent placement of its graduates as do our very successful M.S. in Management Science and Engineering and M.S. in Financial Engineering programs,” Iyengar adds.

Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort, which will start in September 2018. Students have the option of taking a summer semester and completing the Master’s degree in one year, or can choose to take three non-contiguous semesters (fall, spring, fall).

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Spain’s highly-ranked IESE Business School will soon undergo a complete facilities transformation, according to a recent announcement by the school’s dean, Professor Franz Heukamp.

In 2018, work will begin on a new, state-of-the-art campus building in Madrid. Designed by the architectural firm S-M.A.O. with the goal of achieving LEED Gold certification, the projected 24 million euro investment will double the current space of IESE in Madrid and triple the amount of land available, allowing for future extensions if needed.

“IESE aspires to have one of the most influential training centers in the world. The enlargement of our campus will help us support and stimulate the growth of the business community in Madrid,” Heukamp stressed to the more than 3,000 alumni gathered to celebrate the school’s Global Alumni Reunion in November.

The expansion of the Madrid campus is designed to help the school better serve the approximately 15,000 IESE alumni living in Madrid, while also continuing to enhance the school’s cutting edge research and teaching offering to the national and international business community.

New international programs for managers and companies will be delivered from the campus, and there will also be a special emphasis on deepening IESE’s research and entrepreneurial activity in the city.

The fundraising campaign for financing the project has already started. IESE has the support of its entire network of former students as well as that of its partner companies, who are collaborating to provide 70% of the funding. The remaining 30% will come from IESE’s regular budget.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

We’re back with our fourth in a series of five blog posts to help answer frequently asked questions about what really happens during an MBA admissions committee file review, and today we’ll focus on applicants’ interpersonal skills, as demonstrated by their essays and recommendations.

Other essay themes – Travel experiences, marathons, diverse community service contributions, stories from work

Recommenders:

Current boss – stellar, said she was one of the best analysts ever

College professor – discussed her exceptional quant abilities

Nonprofit – excellent recommendation discussing her contributions

Plus two additional letters from prestigious alums discussing her contributions

BillEssays:

Why School X – Excited about school’s entrepreneurial programs, discusses Small Business Development Center and Venture Initiation Program

Other essay themes – Family background, national track & field competitions in high school, mentoring experiences

Recommenders:

Head of PE firm – positive recommendation, but a bit generic

Current boss at PE firm – very strong recommendation discussing abilities and personality, and adding a great deal of additional insight

Breaking it Down: Essays and RecommendationsEssaysMBA programs are looking for a variety of factors within your essays. If you have a standard Goals essay, the adcomm is evaluating not only the ambitiousness and achievability of your goals (as discussed in blog post #2), but also whether business school is even needed to achieve your goals. In these types of essays, the adcomm is also looking to see if you have done your homework on their program.

While Jackie lists a lot of school attributes, many of them are vague, and she could easily be discussing another school’s program. Bill is more specific, detailing exactly why the program is for him. In his case the adcomm is able to easily see how he’ll come in and add value immediately. Specificity is key — demonstrate your knowledge by detailing specific classes, professors and extracurriculars to show the adcomm how you will be prepared from Day 1!

Beyond the goals-focused essays, the adcomm should learn something new about you in your essays. Jackie focused on a number of unique themes in her essays; however, she did not note anything “green” in any, which was perplexing having been an environmental studies major in undergrad combined with several “green” extracurriculars. It seems like she has a good story here that she is not truly capitalizing on.

Bill talks about his family background, which includes immigrant parents and growing up in his family business along with his mentoring work, which he appears to truly love — all are positives and help set him apart from other applicants.

Where Bill falls short is that he discusses a national track & field competition in high school, which seems distant and not the best area to focus on for someone in his mid-to-late 20s. Bill would have been better served to address in more detail his tech enrichment program that he developed for low-income-neighborhood schools. This effectively demonstrates leadership as well as an intent to give back to his community.

RecommendationsWhile Jackie has a plethora of people relaying all sorts of good things about her, she’s actually disregarding the school’s recommender instructions, which state:

We require two letters of recommendation from people who are very knowledgeable about your performance in a work setting, ideally from current or former supervisors.

Jackie’s current boss fits this bill perfectly; however, using a college professor and a nonprofit board member do not. She will have points taken away for not following instructions and for an adcomm evaluation, every point counts!

She would have been better off selecting her second recommender as someone who also knows her work experience but from a different angle — possibly her mentor at the firm or another manager with whom she has worked closely. Also, while some schools accept additional letters of support, you need to be very careful about them.

Too many are overkill and can have the reverse effect on your application. If you want to go this route, make sure your school is open to this and be very judicious about who submits a letter.

Bill has a strong recommendation from his current boss, but he made a misstep in using the head of his firm, who gave him a very generic recommendation. MBA programs are clear on this point: the title of the recommender is not as important as his or her ability to effectively evaluate your performance.

By using the head of his firm, Bill lost an opportunity to provide more detailed information about his accomplishments in the workplace. A better route would have been to choose a former supervisor at one of his two previous companies as his second recommender.

In summary, make sure your recommenders know you and add meaningful insight; familiarity always trumps prestige. Letters from current and recent supervisors are always most important. Don’t submit extra letters unless they are truly helpful, providing an additional point of view.

Next up – So what happened?

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

One afternoon at the start of the school year, my daughter came running into my room with a list of supplies she needed for her Halloween costume. She was dressing up as superheroes with a group of friends and she was going to be Wonder Woman. I was surprised – she usually resisted costumes.

Fast forward to the night before Halloween, when she came into my office sulking that she hated her costume. This sounded more like my girl. I know her. Over time she will better understand herself and she will accept certain truths about herself. She can then avoid moments like this past Halloween, when she awkwardly clomped around her school’s field, in a costume she felt embarrassed by, in front of every other student, faculty and parent at the school. In her eyes, 15 minutes of torture.

No one expects a second grader to fully know themselves. But as a member of the over forty crowd, sometimes I feel like I am the only one who doesn’t have it all figured out.

I mean, Gwyneth has it figured out: “I wish more women had told me that at 40 you sort of stop worrying about what other people think about you, and you come into yourself in the most phenomenal way.”

And Jennifer Aniston has it all figured out: “I feel better in my 40s…because, say, in your 20s, you didn’t know s–t. For me, in my 30s I was just trying to figure it all out. Then when you hit 40, you’re like, ‘Oh, okay. I got this.’”

All the writers who produce those articles titled, “30 Things You Know For Sure Once You Hit 30” or “Why Facing Adversity Allows You to Know and Live Your Truth”…they clearly have it all figured out.

As for me, I don’t know if I will ever figure it out. And I am not sure I want to.

Yes, it’s true, over time, I have gotten to know myself better. I will never dress up as a superhero with a group of friends. I prefer Pilates over Soul Cycle. I love gummy candy. I like working for myself. I learn better visually. I don’t like clutter. I prefer small groups over big crowds. I’m an early bird, not a night owl. All of these nuggets of self-knowledge, collected over time, allow me to be happier, more content and more productive.

GUMMY CANDY: MY KRYPTONITE

But there are still plenty of times when I feel awkward and I do give a s-t. There are times when I am in over my head, I fear messing up, times when I feel vulnerable, embarrassed or agitated because I made the wrong decision.

Here’s the thing. I don’t want to turn a certain age and be 100% comfortable in my life and my skin, so settled that nothing ever phases me. I want to keep trying new things and failing, feeling the full range of emotions: embarrassed, ashamed and also joyfully happy. I want to experience novelty, and I want to grow and learn.

If you are like me and you haven’t figured it all out, and are thinking that perhaps you never will, don’t despair. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing. Let’s make lists of the 10,000 things we still want to learn, experience and do. Let’s keep figuring it out forever.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

The methodology for Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking places considerable weight on recruiter opinions regarding how well MBA programs prepare their graduates with relevant skills, as well as student feedback on the same.

INSEAD, which has campuses in France, Asia, and the Middle East, unseated London Business School for the top spot, Bloomberg Businessweek reveals, thanks to its strong performance in both alumni and employer surveys, as well as a boost in its recent students’ ability to obtain jobs shortly after graduation.

Top Ten International MBA Program Rankings

INSEAD

London Business School

IESE Business School

Oxford’s Said Business School

IMD

Cambridge Judge Business School

SDA Bocconi

IE Business School

ESADE Business School

HEC Paris

The article’s authors also note that graduates of Mannheim Business School in Germany are the most likely to get hired quickly, while graduates of Switzerland’s IMD are the highest-paid.

The Bloomberg ranking methodology includes an employer survey (35% of score), alumni survey (30%), student survey (15%), job placement rate (10%), and starting salary (10%). MBA hopefuls should keep in mind that, because the full-time rankings comprise five elements, it’s possible to rank highly without knocking every category out of the ballpark.

Click on over to Bloomberg Businessweek to see the details for all of the 31 schools ranked in this list. And remember, here at SBC we don’t like to encourage clients to focus too heavily on rankings when they’re making their MBA program selections. However, we also know those headed for b-school really can’t help themselves, so be sure to consider multiple factors when making your final school selection.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

The best way to cope when you’re anxiously waiting for news of any kind is to stay busy. And I’m not talking about devoting hours each day to stalking the MBA message boards. Though these forums provide a tempting distraction for MBA hopefuls waiting for interview invites and admit decisions, they also stir up enormous stress in candidates and often spread misinformation that can derail your carefully considered MBA application plans. You’re much better off focusing your energies on the following activities to pass the time productively.

Stay Engaged with the SchoolSure, you don’t have a firm answer from your dream school yet, but you should still continue to invest the time to further immerse yourself in all things related to the program. Every b-school asks applicants “Why this school?” either explicitly in the application or during the interview, so you’ll want to keep up with any big news announcements that you can later reference as a way to demonstrate your interest and commitment to attending if admitted.

If you haven’t already done so, follow the school and relevant professors on social media, through their podcasts or blogs, and check the program’s event calendar for any winter break meetups designed for prospective students. The more specific details you can weave into your conversation with your interviewer, the more convinced the admissions team will be regarding your fit with their school culture.

Also, use this time to rekindle or reinforce those relationships with current students or alumni that you started cultivating months ago. Send a brief message reminding them that you’ve submitted your application and hope to have good news to share with them soon. This simple gesture signals your continued excitement about the program, and, as an added bonus, these contacts can answer any new burning questions you have as well as provide valuable admissions interview insight.

Prepare for InterviewsLast month, I shared my recommendation for 30 minutes of interview prep a day. That may sound like a lot of time, but given the fact that business schools typically weigh the applicant’s interview performance as heavily as their GMAT or GRE score, this area is obviously too important to just wing it.

Spend time coming up with appropriate responses to the most common MBA interview questions, such as: what are your strengths and weaknesses?; why do you want to do an MBA now?; why have you applied to this program?; what are your post-MBA career goals?; as well as the typical ice-breakers, tell me about yourself and walk me through your resume.

But be prepared for curveballs and behavioral questions that start with, “Tell me about a time when…” Harvard Business School is notorious for its atypical interview questions, which have ranged from: “What is one thing I’d never have guessed about you, even after reading your application?” and “What is the most interesting conversation you’ve had this week?” to “Explain to me something you’re working on as if I were an eight-year-old.”

While you can’t fully prepare for these types of surprise questions, it’s helpful to brainstorm stories and examples from your professional or personal life that support the general themes of leadership, overcoming challenges, and your unique passions and ambitions. Come ready to discuss things you haven’t already shared in your application.

Non-native English speakers need to make sure their language skills pass at a near-native level, and ramping up the reading is a great way for this subset of MBA applicants to prepare for the interview experience. Even reading five pages a day of a business publication or books related to your primary areas of interest can help improve your interviewing skills by giving you something memorable to talk about during the exchange.

Allow for a Plan BThese days, it’s wise to balance your ambition with a dose of realism. If you land on the waitlist in rounds one or two, will you try your luck in ultra-competitive round three? If you have your heart set on a particular school and don’t get in, will you reapply next year? If you don’t go to business school next fall, what career shift or lifelong dream might you pursue instead? Remembering that you have choices feels immensely reassuring. Having an acceptable backup plan in mind will go a long way toward not only coping with any potential adverse outcome, but actually thriving in spite of it.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

The average first-year base salary and signing bonus for Tuck School of Business’s newest graduates was a record $158,194, according to recently released employment data for the class of 2017.

The mean annual base salary increased to $127,986 and the mean signing bonus climbed 4 percent to $30,208. The median annual base salary for T’17s held at $125,000, with a median signing bonus of $25,000.

Demand remained strong for Tuck graduates in 2017 with 95 percent receiving job offers within three months after graduation and 92 percent accepting positions within that same timeframe.

“This was another solid year for career placement at Tuck,” says Jonathan Masland, executive director of career development, in a statement announcing the news. “Our graduates are prepared to lead in a dynamic world and I think the continued interest that we see from recruiters is a testament to Tuck’s academic rigor as well as the quality of our students.”

Of particular note in 2017 was the increase in the number of graduates going into technology. A record 20 percent of this year’s graduating class secured jobs in the industry, which also provided a boost to Tuck’s West Coast alumni presence. An all-time high of 23 percent of Tuck’s most recent graduates went westward—8 percent more than the previous year—with most landing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.

“We’re excited about the diversity of industries among our 2017 graduates and their locations,” Masland says.

“We did have some pursue more niche opportunities this year that took a little longer to procure,” Masland continues. “But graduates confidently pursuing jobs that they’re passionate about is too a sign of strength.”

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

We’re back with the last of our series of five blog posts to help answer frequently asked questions about what really happens during an MBA admissions committee file review, and today we’ll reveal what happened to our fictional applicants, Jackie and Bill, on their MBA journey.

So, what happened?Jackie was waitlisted at a top 5 school for Round 1. Here’s why:

While the adcomm was impressed by her grades at an Ivy League program, they were concerned by her GMAT score — both the fact that her quant was on the lower end of their range and that she did not attempt to improve on her score, taking it only one time.

She was lighter on work experience and did not relay many points about how she differed from her peers in the heavily oversubscribed investment banking space.

Her career goals were vague and she did not have a clearly achievable plan laid out.

She had a terrific range of extracurricular activities, but it would have been nice to see her passion in one of them play out in a clearer thread throughout her application.

Her essays themes were fairly generic and she was not very specific about her research on the school, which made the Adcomm wonder how she’ll add value to their program.

While she had good recommendations, she did not clearly follow the instructions, submitting three (the school requires two), with only one being from her supervisor. The other two recommendations were from a college professor and a nonprofit board member.

The combination of these issues led to her being waitlisted. But there’s still a happy ending to Jackie’s story, as she submitted an application in Round 2 to another top 5 program and was admitted! Here’s what she did to succeed:

Took the time to do thorough research on the program and communicated it well throughout all aspects of her application.

Took the GRE and submitted her higher score.

Told her real story about her environmental interests and tied it in well throughout all aspects of her application. And she focused on just a few activities that supported her story.

Submitted only serious, value-added recommendations.

Took the time to do it right versus rushing through a Round 1 application.

Meanwhile, Bill was admitted to a top 5 program in Round 1! Here’s what he did to succeed:

Researched the program.

Successfully tied together his interests in finance, tech, entrepreneurship, education and mentoring.

Showed a track record in all of these areas, which demonstrated his sincerity.

Rocked the GMAT!

Improved his grades over time in college.

Highlighted his personal background, which helped the adcomm understand the whys behind his actions; he got points for overcoming a more difficult family background.

We hoped you’ve enjoyed following our applicants on their journey and have taken away some key insights that will help you on your own. Best of luck!

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

If Mom and Dad are actively involved in your MBA application process, then it might be time to rethink their role at this critical career crossroads. The admissions committee wants to see applicants with demonstrated leadership and maturity, which is hard to convey with parents chiming in at every step along the way.

So-called “helicopter parents” may have the best intentions, but their interfering actions could unwittingly jeopardize their child’s chances of admission to a top business school. It’s important for parents to strike the appropriate balance between taking an active interest in their adult child’s education and career choices and hijacking the responsibilities those choices entail. This is true even if parents are fully or partially footing the bill, which is more and more often the case.

Business schools certainly welcome parents when they come to visit their enrolled students, and tolerate those who join their children on a general admissions tour. But unlike undergraduate admissions, where parents are assumed to be heavily involved, the expectation in MBA admissions is that students are independent, fully formed professionals. When parental involvement becomes intrusive, it raises a serious red flag about the candidate’s ability to be successful in the program.

So what level of parental involvement is appropriate when it comes to the b-school admissions process? In our view as MBA consultants, it’s perfectly all right for parents to get in touch with SBC for information about how admissions consulting works, to chip in or cover the costs of consulting, or to provide helpful insight or act as a sounding board for their children’s essays – if they request it.

Parents should not attempt to guide the process themselves, however. We’ve had parents ask for conference calls to discuss their child’s issues without the applicant on the phone. We’ve also known cases of parents impersonating their child when contacting the school admissions office with questions about financial aid, application status and more. If discovered, this deception will cause irreparable damage to the applicant’s candidacy.

The truth is, parents may know their children very well in a certain light, but they don’t necessarily know how to reveal the aspects of their child that will be most appealing to business schools. In some cases, their opinions are slanted in completely the wrong way and can actually be harmful.

We have had many incidents of parents nearly derailing the process when they critique and tear apart the applicant’s MBA essays that my consultants have already determined are pretty much good to go. When that happens, we’re left wondering why they paid for expert consulting in the first place.

The urge to insert themselves into the admissions process likely stems from a desire to protect their children from failure or disappointment, but parents can serve their children’s needs better by cheering from the sidelines and offering moral support if a setback or ding does occur.

Even if they still rely on Mom and Dad for advice and financial support, graduate-level students are adults who are expected to be capable of making independent, adult decisions. If you’re the student in this scenario, make sure you set limits with your parents’ involvement so as not to jeopardize your candidacy by creating a poor impression of your decision-making capacities.

And parents: Trust that you’ve done a great job and that your child is responsible enough to make the right decisions for his or her future.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

The Round 2 deadline is coming up at Harvard Business School on January 3rd, and there’s no time like the present to review some of the key elements your MBA application should highlight if you’re targeting this upcoming round.

It may not surprise you to learn that high-impact leadership, or what we call the “Big Kahuna” at HBS, is the most important trait the AdCom looks for. When evaluating your leadership potential, the admissions committee will look for evidence that you’ve made a positive impact on the communities of which you’ve been a part, both personally and professionally.

Your past leadership achievements are the best gauge of your potential for realizing your future ambitions, so make sure to highlight instances that support your case in this area. The admissions committee understands you may not have several years of work experience from which to draw. Take comfort in knowing that it’s not about the scale of your achievements – rather, it’s the fact that you left indelible footprints.

Be sure also to focus on service to others in your application. As with leadership, the committee is concerned with the connection between your achievements and how they reflect who you are. Community service is important because a.) it provides insights into your deeper interests and the causes that you care about; and b.) the admissions officers want to see evidence that you’re the type of person who devotes energy to making a community stronger because they may be inviting you into their community.

With a mission to “educate leaders to make a difference in the world,” HBS isn’t looking for candidates who simply want a résumé boost. If you’re applying to Harvard, you have to have passion and vision–think big. Passion is a useful tool for staying motivated and productive, whether it’s in school or business.

But it goes much deeper than simply being passionate about what you’re doing. You need to express your passion in a way that inspires and projects energy onto those you work with. It’s not just your footprints that interest HBS admissions; they also want to see the footprints of those who follow you as you blaze a new trail in an area of passion.

Finally, applicants may want to take advantage of today’s admissions Q&A webinar at 4 p.m. Eastern time. Harvard Business School is closed from December 22 through January 1, so this will be your last chance to communicate with the admissions team regarding any questions that might help as you put those finishing touches on your application over the next two weeks.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

In 9 days, 2017 draws to a close. And just 12 days from today, the first Round 2 MBA deadlines hit. Are you ready? If you’re not a “list person,” it’s time to become one — at least until the rest of your applications are in.

We’ll help by giving you this outline for your Round 2 Still-To-Do list:

Assuming your recommenders have not yet submitted their letters, touch base with them again if it’s been more than two weeks since you last checked in. Remind them that it would be great if they could upload their responses a few days before the deadlines to avoid any last-minute system-crash drama. And thank them again for their time! Ensuring your recommenders are on track is your top priority because this is a tough time of the year for people to be pulled away from family obligations. You know you’ll get everything in, but this isn’t consuming their lives like it is yours.

Make sure you have all of the documentation each school requires — things like test-score reports and undergraduate or exchange-program transcripts. If you’re missing something at this point, you’ll probably have to hustle to secure what you need.

Finalize your resume. Many schools have cut down on essay requirements, so resumes are playing a larger role in deciding prospective students’ fates. It’s critical that your resume tells the full story of your professional, educational and extracurricular achievements.

Complete the applications/data forms for each school. Why do this before putting the finishing touches on your essays? Because when left to the ultimate last minute, applications fields are extremely easy to screw up. There’s no spellcheck available on these forms, and if you’re rushing through them you are likely to make a mistake. Don’t risk having the very first thing the adcom sees be riddled with typos!

And now . . . the essays. We’ll be honest: we hope you aren’t just starting your essays this late in the game. But it certainly is possible to pull together quality responses within two weeks if you buckle down right this second. You can have a few friends or family members on standby to help you firm up your themes and cut down extra words, but if you’re working with an admissions consultant, don’t let advice from others derail the strategy and positioning your consultant has helped you set.

***Do you want to stay on top of the application process with timely tips like these? Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive our expert advice straight in your mailbox before it appears on the blog, plus special offers, promotions, discounts, invitations to events, and more.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

I lived in San Francisco for eight years and recently went back for a quick visit. That weekend, I decided to do something I had never done before. I biked from the Ferry Building, across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. It was a perfect, not too hot and not too cold, clear, blue-sky day. Absolutely stunning, spectacular views all around.

I enjoyed the ride. Cruising through downtown. Loosening the gears and pedaling up a quintessential San Francisco hill. Coasting along the bridge, knowing that we were almost there.

But as I was cycling towards my goal, I occasionally stopped and realized that I was spending most of my time staring at the ground beneath me.

Have you ever done that? On a walk or a hike? Doesn’t matter if you are hiking along the Cinque Terre coastline in the Italian Riviera. You have a goal in mind and you walk, walk, walk, trekking to the finish line. You end up staring, sometimes for hours on end, at the dirt below.

I compare it to working towards any goal. You are focused on the task at hand, and you keep your “head down.” Sometimes it’s beneficial, important, even essential to keep your head down. But sometimes it’s good to look up. On my bike ride, I looked up and was flooded with memories of some of the most pivotal times in my life: working downtown in Embarcadero 4, pounding out b-school essays in my apartment in the Marina, my first date with my now-husband in North Beach, strolling my newborn son in Russian Hill and of course, countless watering holes and party sites in every corner of the city.

My mind started to wander and fill with ideas. I noticed the people and sites. I thought about this very post that I am writing now. I was inspired. When I looked up and soaked in the incredible landscape and views, I started to really enjoy the process of getting there.

I MEAN…

The new year is upon us. Many of us will set resolutions. Including me – I love resolutions and goals! We will settle in on January 1 and start plugging away with determination at whatever it is that drives us. And that’s a great thing: to work passionately and furiously towards things that we value. But as you embark on this new journey, don’t forget to look up, be inspired and enjoy the ride. You might see things you have never seen before or view things in a different light. If you consistently keep your head down and simply follow your preconceived map, you might miss a detour that leads to something even more spectacular. You might miss out on all the fun.

Happy New Year and look up in 2018.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

The NYU Stern School of Business has announced that Rangarajan “Raghu” Sundaram will become dean of the school as of January 1, 2018. Professor Sundaram joined Stern’s faculty a little more than two decades ago and has been Vice Dean of MBA Programs since 2016. He succeeds Peter Henry, who held the deanship since January 2010.

Sundaram was selected by Dean Henry to join Stern’s leadership team as Vice Dean for MBA Programs, overseeing the school’s full-time MBA program; the Langone part-time MBA program; multiple dual degrees, including seven offered in partnership with the University; the Executive MBA program; the MS in Accounting program; and Advanced Professional Certificate programs.

Among his accomplishments as Vice Dean were the establishment of the Creative Destruction Lab; the launch of new, specialized one-year MBA programs; his outreach to industry, securing the support of key business leaders to join the School’s newly created Tech MBA Advisory Board; the extension of the New York City-based Executive MBA program to downtown Washington, D.C., where it is now the highest ranked EMBA in that market; and Stern’s entry into online education, including launching the first in a series of online certificate programs, among others.

Professor Sundaram’s scholarly interests include agency problems, executive compensation, corporate finance, derivatives pricing, credit risk, and credit derivatives. He has received research grants from the National Science Foundation and other organizations. He has won the Jensen Prize, was a finalist for the Brattle Prize, and received the Stern School’s inaugural Distinguished Teaching Award.

Sundaram received his BA in economics from the University of Madras in 1982, and received his MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahemedabad in 1984. He received his MA in economics from Cornell University in 1987, and his PhD in economics from Cornell in 1988.

When announcing the appointment, NYU President Andrew Hamilton said, “Stern’s reputation is such that it had an outstanding group of candidates for the dean’s post. But in the end, the Search Committee found the best candidate here in our own midst. And rightly so. Raghu Sundaram has a strong, highly regarded record of leadership and innovation, scholarship and teaching, and collegiality and service to both Stern and the University. In a field of distinguished candidates for Stern’s deanship, Raghu stood out.”

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

If you were a Round 1 applicant this season, over the last few weeks you may have received great news, upsetting news or a mix of both— otherwise known as placement on the waitlist.

First of all, the waitlist is encouraging feedback. It means that you are qualified to attend the program, and that the school was interested in your application and your profile. Unfortunately, it was a competitive year and they couldn’t offer you a solid place in the class. No matter the reason, the waitlist is still a tough place to be. So try to stay calm and adopt a zen mindset that helps you accept what is, while making any changes within your power.

Will I get in?

There is almost no way to know if you will be admitted off the waitlist. It certainly does happen, often, yet you have little information about the ranking of the waitlist, how many people are on the waitlist, or whether the school will reach the yield they are looking for with regular applicants. Therefore, being on the waitlist means a certain comfort with ambiguity. Hopefully you were admitted to another school and can decide whether to remain in limbo or not.

Should I stay on the waitlist?

The decision to stay on the waitlist depends on your interest level in the MBA program you have been waitlisted for. If it is your top choice, you may be willing to remain on the list until school begins, especially if you are willing to move quickly and give up a deposit on a school that has offered you firm admission.

If the waitlisting program is not your first choice, or you would like to settle your MBA plans before school starts, you may choose to remove your name from the list. It is a great service to another applicant if you do so promptly, allowing someone else a chance at their MBA dream.

Can I improve my chances of admission from the waitlist?

You may be able to improve your chances. The number one rule of waitlists is to follow directions. The school provided you with instructions about how to handle the waitlist process, and you must follow these directions to avoid having a negative impact on your standing with the admissions committee. If the school tells you that no additional materials are required, no additional materials are required, and you should not submit any under any circumstances.

If the MBA program does provide the option of submitting additional materials, apply consistent application strategy to the task. The AdCom may welcome letters of recommendation, improved GMAT scores or additional essays/letters from you.

Carefully consider your strengths and weaknesses, and whether the following would be beneficial in your situation:

Letter/EssayIf you have recently been promoted at work, have accomplished a personal goal, or have completed an academic class with a strong grade, it may be worth writing a letter to update the admissions committee with your news. Try to keep your essay or letter factual, and do not repeat information that was already included in your original application.

RecommendationsA supplemental recommendation may add information about you to strengthen your position on the waitlist. If you have been involved in an extracurricular activity, know someone associated with the school, or can use a letter to strengthen a part of your application, the letter may be the right direction to proceed in. Make sure your additional recommendation is brief, focused and adds significant additional information to your overall profile.

GMAT scores/TranscriptsFactual information like improved GMAT scores or transcripts from successful business related classes could go a long way towards bolstering your chances.

While the waitlist may be frustrating, it is a positive indication for your application, and you may be fortunate enough to receive final admission from your chosen program. In the meantime, do yoga, meditate, go for a run–whatever you can do to maintain your inner peace as you wait to hear a formal decision.

Good luck!

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

How is it possible that we’re already at the final days of 2017? Once again, the time is upon us to make new resolutions, push ourselves to learn and grow, and rededicate ourselves to our personal and professional goals.

With that in mind, we’d like to share some of our most popular blog posts from the past year, each selected to help you better prepare as you journey along the road to business school.

5 Times it Makes Sense to Apply to Only One MBA Program—While the majority of applicants target four to six MBA programs, deciding how many business schools to apply to is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Here you’ll find five scenarios where putting all of your eggs in one basket is a perfectly valid decision.

Dealing with Impostor Syndrome at B-School—When you have your sights set on one of the top business schools in the world, you probably feel confident that your skills and experiences will sway the admissions committee to take a closer look at your application. Despite that confidence, many accepted candidates go through a period of self-doubt once they start learning more about all of the amazing people they will be working alongside in class.

Consider the 3 C’s of Fit When Choosing a Business School—Whether you’re a prospective applicant starting to pull together a list of programs or you’re in the enviable position of choosing between two or more admissions offers, start determining the best fit for you by considering the three C’s – curriculum, communication and culture.

Is There Such Thing as Too Old, Too Young for an MBA?—Think about what you want to gain from and what you can contribute to an MBA program. You may be 22 but have a ton of insight to share and highly focused career goals. That would give you a leg up on the 28-year-old who is lost and just using the MBA as something to fill the time.

The Bigger Picture: Beginnings Are Hard—In the early days of SBC, my husband gave me a little annex room in his office, where I sat all day and worked in silence, alone and…nothing. Nobody called. Nobody emailed. I was overwhelmed by feelings of self-doubt and self-pity. I’m still not sure what made me keep going, but I suppose it came down to truly believing in the service and knowing I could help people achieve their goals. I made it through the beginning. It was ugly and messy and very un-glamorous, but I kept going.

Sorry Military MBA Applicants, There’s No Manual for B-School Research—One of the defining characteristics of military veterans is their independence. This is taught and reinforced by the continual expectation that you will figure things out for yourself, and the military enables that. Now, I’m transitioning out of the military to business school…where’s the manual?

3 Ways to Explain a Job Loss in the MBA Application—If you’re feeling anxious about explaining a gap in employment history in your MBA application, take heart. The members of the admissions committee are human beings who will empathize with someone who has faced a lay-off or firing and lived to tell the tale. By addressing the elephant in the room head on, you’ll avoid any unintended negative inferences by the admissions team.

Eyeing a US Business School? Tips for International MBA Applicants—Nearly a third of students in some of the top MBA programs are international, which offers great professional and cultural diversity and enriches the classroom experience. Applying from abroad involves certain expected obstacles, such as the logistics of campus visits, securing visas and financial aid and demonstrating language proficiency, but students share other challenges as well.

How to Address Weaknesses, Strengths as MBA Applicant—Almost every MBA application asks some version of the strengths-and-weaknesses question, either as part of an essay or as a question for your recommenders. Understandably, applicants dread the thought of discussing anything negative within their application. But admissions committees specifically ask you to reveal your weaknesses to assess your fit with the program.

The Bigger Picture: There is No Try—I know that we have all been taught to try our very best, but sometimes trying isn’t enough.This became clear to me many years ago when I heard Yoda say, “Do or do not. There is no try.” He really is so wise, isn’t he? With many things in life, you can do it, or not do it. Period. No one cares if you tried. I never say that I will try to do something. I make a decision. Is this something that I want to commit to? Yes or no…and then I commit…or not.

4 Areas Admissions Committees Focus on When Evaluating Your Candidacy—The admissions committee focuses on four very specific areas when evaluating your candidacy and fit with their program. The welcome news for applicants of all stripes is that standing out in these aspects can happen no matter where you’ve worked before or what background you have.

Do More Than Wait for MBA Admissions Responses—Though the b-school message boards provide a tempting distraction for MBA hopefuls waiting for interview invites and admit decisions, they also stir up enormous stress in candidates and often spread misinformation that can derail your carefully considered MBA application plans. You’re much better off focusing your energies on the following activities to pass the time productively.

***

My goal with this blog has always been to bring b-school applicants the latest news from the schools, insightful application and essay tips, and to explore major trends affecting the future of management education.

Thank you so much for making us a top destination for your b-school research. We hope this resource continues to serve you well as you embark on what is definitely a life-changing, career-boosting journey.

Have a wonderful holiday, and see you back here in 2018!

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

Starting tomorrow — and then on a rolling basis over the next few weeks — more than a dozen top MBA programs will close out their Round 2 application periods. If you are targeting one of those schools and haven’t hit “Submit” yet, here are some last-minute tips for you:

Ensure your recommendation letters are in. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: you know you’ll get your materials uploaded in time, but you simply can’t be as confident about your recommenders. If you haven’t received confirmation that they’ve submitted their letters, stop everything and do what you can to help them finish this critical task. Seriously. Right now. Go call them. (Don’t email or text them — call)

Give both your resume and your essays to a family member or friend to review for typos. And just typos or other errors! At this point, it’s not wise to change much about the content itself, so be clear that you are not looking for their thoughts on whether there’s a better story to use or example to discuss. Their concern should be your spelling and grammar; this isn’t the time to second-guess your overall strategy.

The application itself — or, the “data form” — also needs a careful review. Here are specific things to look for before you hand it over to someone else with fresh eyes:

Spelling errors, missing letters/words, stray punctuation, inconsistent or incorrect punctuation. There’s no spellcheck feature in most applications, and if you’re in a hurry, it’s easy to make a mistake.

Consistency. Ensure you’ve remained consistent in everything from titles to organization names to date ranges across the data form, your resume and your essays. If something doesn’t match up across your materials, it may raise a red flag to the adcom.

Redundancy. While you want to present your background consistently across each piece of your MBA application, if you simply copy and paste your resume bullets into data-form fields such as “Most significant accomplishment,” you’re wasting an opportunity to tell the adcom something new. Even if time is tight, you should be able to describe an achievement in a fresh way or give additional details that didn’t fit on your resume.

Correct program name. The “optional essay” or “additional information” field in particular can be a dangerous one if you re-use the same content across applications — ensure you don’t have School X’s name in School Y’s materials.

Best of luck getting everything in!

Think of it this way:

And happy new year!

Until next time,

The team at Stacy Blackman Consulting

***Do you want to stay on top of the application process with timely tips like these? Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive our expert advice straight in your mailbox before it appears on the blog, plus special offers, promotions, discounts, invitations to events, and more.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

It’s a brand-new year, and the perfect time to set new goals and a plan of action if business school is in your future. Let Stacy Blackman Consulting help keep you motivated every step of the way on your journey toward the MBA. Don’t wait—sign up at boost@stacyblackman.com today!

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business recently announced a new full scholarship called the Indonesia Fellowship, created through a gift from the Jakarta-based Rainbow Foundation.

The fellowship, originally created in 2012, is now offered as a scholarship providing up to the full cost of attendance for an academically qualified Indonesian national with proven need for financial support. Selected students can attend Darden’s full-time MBA program or Executive MBA program, with an option for the Global Executive MBA format.

“This is an incredibly generous offer for talented students from Indonesia,” says Dawna Clarke, Darden’s executive director of admissions and financial aid. “The level of funding the fellowship provides exceeds that provided by other scholarships in the market, and it gives deserving students the opportunity to study at one of the world’s top business schools.”

The Indonesia Fellowship will cover for recipients the cost of Darden tuition and fees, course materials, health insurance, computer, living and travel expenses.

“In a world of astonishing complexity and rapid change, Darden develops global leaders from an inspiring premise: Business combined with purpose will improve the world,” says Darden Dean Scott Beardsley. “We are incredibly grateful to the Rainbow Foundation for its generosity inspiring the next generation of leaders from Indonesia to pursue their purpose.”

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

Show Tags

All MBA hopefuls fear getting denied, but if there’s any silver lining to rejection, it’s that many business schools now offer feedback sessions to help unsuccessful candidates figure out where they might have gone wrong.

This availability of application feedback confirms that the schools really do welcome and encourage re-applicants, who often find success the second time around. In fact, in the past, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has shared with us anecdotally that applicants who reapplied often have a slight edge in the applicant pool.

Find out the policy of your school of choice and get in touch with the admissions office right away, making it clear that you will use the feedback to reapply next year, if that’s the case. These meetings usually take place on a first-come, first-served basis in the spring, at the end of the admissions season.

Due to the brevity of these sessions, it’s important to prepare in advance. Write down a few pointed questions that will help you make the most of your meeting. If you questioned anything during the application process, you now have the opportunity to clear things up. In order to gather actionable information, your questions should sound something like this:

• Was there any concern about my quantitative abilities? If so, what can I do to demonstrate my capabilities?

• Were my career goals clear?

• Are my reasons for wanting an MBA sound?

• What were some of the biggest weaknesses in my application? Do you have any suggestions for how I can ease your concerns in those areas?

Have a plan to make sure the session stays on pace, because you’ll usually have a maximum of 15 minutes. Keep track of the time and strive to end the conversation gracefully.

It’s unlikely that members of the admissions committee will tell you flat out that you don’t have the stats, background or qualifications to attend their MBA program, even if that is the case. Nor will they tell you to change your life plans just for the sake of the application. There’s an art to extracting information, but don’t expect to receive the secret key to success during this brief conversation. Take what you can get.

Ultimately, the feedback session may or may not provide helpful insight. You might receive a very actionable comment, such as “you need more work experience” or “you should raise your GMAT score at least 30 points.” But with more qualified applicants than available seats in the program, the advice is often quite general and you’ll have to work hard to pin down specific takeaways.

Think of this as one additional opportunity to build upon your relationship with the school, so maintain a pleasant, engaging and polite tone. The admissions committee also takes notes during the exchange that will go into your file and form a part of the evaluation you when you reapply next year, so make sure you don’t get defensive about their feedback.

Treat this as an extension of your interview: Jot down the name and email address of the person you speak with, and remember to follow up with a thank-you note.

Finally, don’t spend a lot of time or energy fretting about elements of your application that you cannot change in less than 12 months. Instead, use the feedback from the admissions committee and your own honest self-analysis to determine where you can improve in order to better position your application for the next admissions cycle.

ForumBlogs - GMAT Club’s latest feature blends timely Blog entries with forum discussions. Now GMAT Club Forums incorporate all relevant information from Student, Admissions blogs, Twitter, and other sources in one place. You no longer have to check and follow dozens of blogs, just subscribe to the relevant topics and forums on GMAT club or follow the posters and you will get email notifications when something new is posted. Add your blog to the list! and be featured to over 300,000 unique monthly visitors

_________________

Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: http://stacyblackman.com/contact

MBA Acceptance Rate by Undergraduate Major Many applicants may wonder if their undergraduate major impacts their chance of getting into business school. Admissions data suggests that your college major...